Freeney made more than $14 million in base salary last season and that begins a list of reasons not to sign him. The Seahawks don't seem to be in the mood to pay even half of his 2012 salary. But there's hope. According to The Professor, John Clayton, the word is that Freeney may be willing to sign a contract more in the $1 million-$3 million range in order to play on a team with the playoffs in its future. As you may have guessed, a contract in that range for a superstar like Freeney may need to be heavily loaded with incentives. But if you're the Seahawks, you'd gladly pay a player like Freeney performance bonuses – especially when those bonuses are quarterback sacks.

If he's got a contract that has incentives built in, he's not going to want to lose snaps to Avril, for example.

I agree that the money may not be the primary factor, but if he has a list of contending teams, then I imagine he'll go to the one that will likely net him the most playing time. And with Dumervil's recent departure from Denver, I'd have to say the Broncos would be a more attractive destination for him.

Honestly, you only need so many players on the team of a certain Ilk, and although I think Freeney can make a difference on the right team, unfortunately we are not that team any longer. We are full up on that type of player at the moment

He would be dangerous is a limited role. Imagine him coming off the bench fully rested a few times a game. If he wants to sign for cheap, I'm sure they could find a spot for him. But likely it would come at the expense of a young D-lineman who could also play special teams.

Imagine a FRESH rotation of super high quality pass rushers. I don't see that as a certain ilk, but a strength. Getting Bennet and Avril is huge, but is NOT a guarantee of an instant pass rush. If we have to sacrifice a youngster to win the SB, I want it done.

Largent80 wrote:Imagine a FRESH rotation of super high quality pass rushers. I don't see that as a certain ilk, but a strength. Getting Bennet and Avril is huge, but is NOT a guarantee of an instant pass rush. If we have to sacrifice a youngster to win the SB, I want it done.

Sure, you as a fan want it done, but look at what John and Pete have done. They target younger, hungry veterans in free agency and use the draft and undrafted free agent pool to hunt for developmental talent. Right now we have cap space left to do some things, but from everything I've read and heard, we are using that to focus on our own guys now. I'm betting if Freeney was in their sights, we'd have already signed him up.

Feel like the roster spot would be better served going to a rookie they like out of the draft, even if it was another DE. Spots are going to be limited as it is. I'd also rather spend on the money on resigning Branch. Marginal value of signing another vet DE seems pretty minimal at this point.

If we do sign Freeney for cheap...does that mean for 3rd and long obvious passing situations we could run something like the Giant's NASCAR package?

Irvin, Clemons, Bennett, Freeney on the line and Avril blitzing from the Will position?!

We would obviously be weakened in run defense, but I mean for obvious passing situations. If our secondary hangs with their receivers, I don't see HOW any O-Line + TE or RB/FB could stop that ferocious pass rush for longer than 4-5 seconds...

Winterfell wrote:If we do sign Freeney for cheap...does that mean for 3rd and long obvious passing situations we could run something like the Giant's NASCAR package?

Irvin, Clemons, Bennett, Freeney on the line and Avril blitzing from the Will position?!

We would obviously be weakened in run defense, but I mean for obvious passing situations. If our secondary hangs with their receivers, I don't see HOW any O-Line + TE or RB/FB could stop that ferocious pass rush for longer than 4-5 seconds...

THAT, is orgasmic to think about. Especially with no pass rush for how many years now?

If it were possible to work some cap magic and manage to resign Branch AND sign Freeney, would you be happy with that? I wouldn't think it hurts.

We would use Branch more often on early/running downs and against power running teams (SF, HOU, MIN, etc.), while using Freeney on passing 3rd & long downs or against prominent passing teams (NE, GB, DET, etc.).

I really salivate at the prospect of using something like the Giant's NASCAR package where for years they would stockpile a lot of DE talent, and on obvious passing plays put 4 DE on the line and have them rush the QB. It was thanks to their ferocious and unstoppable pass rush that helped them take down the Patriots both times in the Super Bowl and cover for the Giant's linebacker/secondary deficiencies.

Now imagine if we had a similar line to the NY Giants, but a better, FASTER linebacking corps and secondary sticking to their receivers to make the opposing QB hold onto the ball an extra 2-3 seconds? The pass rush would have the potential to be LEGEND...wait for it...wait for it...ARY!!!

Largent80 wrote:THAT, is orgasmic to think about. Especially with no pass rush for how many years now?

Yeah it's been a while. I believe in '05 on our SB team we led the league in sacks? But after that each season we seemed to tail off in terms of pressuring the QB, even when we brought in guys like Julian Peterson and Patrick Kerney. They would be among the league leaders, but as a team, we didn't really get to the level of the '05 team.

I think some posters here think that getting Freeney and an interior pressure generating DT are mutually exclusive, but that's not necessarily true. I think with how smart we manage the cap and how savvy we are in free agency and through the draft, we could pick up Freeney in FA and a pocket-collapsing DT through the draft. Freeney would provide insane speed rush on 3rd and longs in a NASCAR package, while this hypothetical pocket-collapsing DT would provide steady, consistent pass rush on early downs.

Winterfell wrote:Hell, it would be worth it to sign Freeney just for all the priceless reactions it would get...

Seahawks fan reaction:

That Post Says it All !

My 2 cents, Freeney is Not Needed..but would be a welcomed addition on a 1 year agreement, with the acquisitions of Avril and bennet we need to focus the remain Cap towards other areas with more pressing concern. Saving Money for our upcoming FA's is going to be Key.But it totally seems like this team has a WIN NOW mentality (and by now I mean this upcoming season)

Bennett is a situational pass rusher. He can play 3 much like the Jason Jones role. He is better at the run, but it's not something I would want him doing for a whole game. We don't have a guy to play the 3 that can adequately collapse the pocket in our base defense.

Branch should be a situational 3 in short yardage. He provides almost zero pocket push as is. We are entirely too dependent on wholesale sub packages. We got burned hard by SF when they mixed up their play calls to take advantage of our substitutions. Their OL is plenty good enough to convert 3rd and 5 against our pass rush package.

This becomes a problem when we play teams that are balanced. And in the NFC, the competitors for the conference (SF, Sea, Atl, NYG/Wash) all have the ability to run or pass effectively. It is a weakness that is exploitable by the very teams we need to beat.

If we were in the AFC, I wouldn't sweat it. But the top teams in this conference are still committed to running the ball.

Largent80 wrote:And yes, we are trying to win the Super Bowl RIGHT NOW, that is the goal. The goal isn't to win it in the future, the future is RIGHT NOW.

Actually, if I've heard Carroll correctly, the goal is to win FOREVER. Not just RIGHT NOW.

Sacrificing the future just for the CHANCE to win RIGHT NOW is stupid. I'm not saying that signing Freeney would be sacrificing the future, but the mentality that a team has to completely sell out to win IMMEDIATELY and damn the consequences in 2014 and beyond is ridiculous. It's what leads to a decade of the Redskins sucking and what leads to the Eagles' "Dream Team" winning 5 games.

There's no guarantee that Freeney would make a significant impact on our pass rush. I've seen him dominate, but I've also seen him get stonewalled, and he's not getting younger. How much of his decline last year was due to a scheme change in Indy, and how much was his getting on in years? It's impossible to say either way with any level of certainty.

So my argument would be instead of possibly hamstringing the team in the future by awarding an aging vet a pricy contract (if, indeed, that's what Freeney gets) and making it harder for us to re-sign Chancellor, Thomas, etc., why not just put yourself in the best position to make the playoffs EVERY YEAR instead of RIGHT NOW. Because anything can happen in the postseason.

You (plural) do know this whole discussion is based on a month-old opinion piece, right? I wonder if Wyman would still have that opinion after the Bennett and Avril signings, or if he has changed his views in light of them.

49ers webzone: Win or lose, i hope you injure Sherman. Like a serious career ending injury. I don't want him to get paid.49ers webzone: noise should not be the overwhelming reason a team is favored. they need to spray noise-damping foam onto the ceiling of that place.

Largent80 wrote:I don't think the amount of snaps matter to him, he wants to win, and quite frankly, a loaded gun is dangerous. The more we can arm ourselves with, the better off we are.

Freeney is going to sign somewhere he can play.

We don't know where Clemons is going to play when he gets healthy, I doubt Freeney wants to be our fourth defensive end. I bet the Hawks sign a DT who can play inside, I think that's the #1 weakness on our defense.